The Jets all seemed to be feeling it as they entered the building at 1 Jets Drive on Wednesday morning for the first practice of training camp. As LB Demario Davis said: "Time to take off."

WR Garrett Wilson knows that feeling well. He's been building up carbonation for an explosive launch since late last October.

"It's been brewing for a while, since Week 8 of last season," Wilson told reporters following that first practice, his first since going on IR with his knee injury after the home win over Cleveland. "It's really the first time I'd missed significant time in my life, so all of a sudden it makes you look at things differently.

"When you miss time like that, you just can't wait to get back and have another shot at it. That's how I'm feeling right now. We've got a special opportunity to turn this thing around. And I'm excited as I've ever been to do it this season."

Wilson could be excused for his eagerness. Ever since he arrived as the Jets' 10th overall pick of the 2022 draft, he's been their WR1, their go-to-pass-catcher. Three consecutive seasons of 80 catches and 1,000 yards will do that for you, and even despite his truncated '25 he led the Green & White in receiving yards for the fourth time last season and has a shot to be the first in franchise history to lead in that category for five consecutive seasons.

And with that comes "still young but experienced status." Wilson is starting his fifth Jets season, which he said, "Whenever you think about it, it's crazy, man."

"Young guys look at you maybe for how to do a certain lift or something like that, and that just came without me noticing, right?" he said. "But the reality is it is my fifth year, I can't believe it, but I have a feeling this is going to be a special year."

Rookies and 14-year vets and all players in between know not to invest too much into Day 1 of camp. As DL Harrison Phillips said upon entering the practice facility, "First-day-of-school vibe is always a blessing." Always, for every NFL team this week.

Still, Wilson was noticing a difference in the tone of Wednesday's workout.

"The energy out there at practice today, for a first day, I thought was really good," he said. "Obviously, you've got to clean up a lot of things, but the energy, the mindset, the intention was good. Those are all things we feel good about, and we'll see how this things keeps going as we go along."

And part of the reason for this "era of good feeling" for this offseason and the start to camp is because just as Wilson is a vet to young men like first-round WR Omar Cooper Jr., first-round TE Kenyon Sadiq and the rest of the receivers, the double-digit men are inspirations to still young vets like Wilson.

"It's obvious. I would just say with guys like Double-D [Davis] and Minkah Fitzpatrick in the building, and then Geno Smith on the offensive side and Tim Patrick, these guys don't have any past association with the last, maybe, blunders that we've had," he said. "And because of that, they're bringing this winning mindset, winning energy that us as the younger guys and looking up to the older guys like that, we're just trying to latch onto it and get a better idea of what it takes to win at that level."

So the man they sometimes refer to with an alphanumeric (G5), who's already halfway to being a double-digit veteran himself, is happy to be back from injury and back on the field with younger and older teammates alike.

"I've got to hold my end with this team," he said. "Whatever they expect out of me, I've got to do that. If they expect a little more, I've got to do that. And play my role, because I believe we've got the pieces in place that'll get us to playing meaningful football in December, which I've dreamed of doing for a long time.

"We've got a special opportunity this year. I'm excited for my fifth year. It's crazy."